There are many novelty drinking straws made and sold every year. These novelty drinking straws include drinking passages which are in the form of loops, spirals, flowers, stick figures, eye glasses, etc. Some examples of patents disclosing such novelty drinking straws include: U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,063,803; 2,557,411; 2,619,770; 3,260,462; 3,326,695; 3,425,626; 3,517,884; 3,606,156; 3,773,256; 3,957,202; 4,374,596; 4,687,306; 4,699,319; 4,828,355; and 5,184,774. Such novelty drinking straws are intended to amuse the users (principally children) by attracting their attention to the visual display made when fluid passes through the drinking tube as the straw is used.
Novelty drinking straws are also known which include a panel for displaying a message such as an advertisement. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,518 discloses such a novelty straw. The straw disclosed in the '518 patent is of a particular construction including a panel having two opposed, flat major faces for the display of indicia thereon, a plurality of channels extending between the major faces and having open ends at opposite sides of the panels, and at least one mouthpiece and one liquid pick-up region formed at the ends of the straw and interconnected by at least two of the panels. As disclosed in the patent, the channels extend linearly up and down from the panel to form the mouthpiece and liquid pick-up region. The patent does not discuss how the straw is formed. It appears from FIGS. 3 and 5 that the entire straw may be integral in construction and possibly extruded and/or molded in some fashion. Clearly, the straw disclosed in this patent has only limited appeal since the drinking tube, itself, is only linear in configuration.
What is needed is a novelty drinking straw on which advertising or amusement material may be displayed, which has a single, convoluted drinking passage, and which is amusing to use. What is further needed is such a novelty drinking straw which is easy and inexpensive to manufacture. Additionally it would be particularly advantageous if such a drinking straw included the ability to remove and replace the inserts.